GREENWOOD VILLAGE | The Regis Jesuit girls lacrosse team couldn’t have played a much better first half than it did Wednesday night at Stutler Bowl, but the second half was a different story.
Not that the Raiders played poorly in the half, but coach Crysti Foote’s team spent the first 10 minutes of the second half just trying to secure possession as Cherry Creek scored five straight goals to gain an edge it wouldn’t give up in a 9-8 victory over the Raiders.
Sophomore Maddy Jokerst and freshman Delaney Sitzmann scored two goals apiece for Regis Jesuit, which saw a lead get away for a second straight game as it saw a five-goal edge evaporate in a 13-10 loss to Fairview April 26.
“We’re still trying to figure ourselves out a little bit, even though its late in the season,” Foote said. “Learning from our Fairview game, we were up going into the second half and we let them chip away and tonight it was the same thing. I think today the difference was we didn’t get it too far away, we made changes quicker.
“I think as a team we need to come into the second half with as much fire as we do at the start of the game.”
The Raiders dropped to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in the 5A East League.
In the first meeting between the teams since last season when Cherry Creek escaped with an 11-10 victory over Regis Jesuit in a Class 5A state quarterfinal game, the Raiders got off to a strong start.
Rogala scored twice in the first 25 minutes and senior Charlotte Ford and Jokerst also tallied as Regis Jesuit took a 4-2 lead and good momentum into the short halftime break.
“This whole season we’ve played a good first half, so we just need to put together a whole game top to bottom going into the next game,” Foote said.
Things flipped in the second half, however, largely because of how effective the Bruins were in the faceoff circle as they won five of the first six draws of the half. That helped them piled up four consecutive goals while holding the ball for nearly first first 10:21 of the half.
Cherry Creek upped its lead to 8-5 — after each goalie had made big saves, Regis Jesuit’s Rayn Parker on a free shot attempt by Cherry Creek’s Anna Gawthrop and the Bruins’ Charlotte Morton on a shot by the Raiders’ Phoebe Rogala — before Sitzmann scored to cut the deficit to two.
Thanks to back-to-back wins in draws taken by senior Carly Kennedy, Regis Jesuit got another goal from Jokerst and had a good shot attempt by senior Emily Bradac that was kept out of the net. From there, the Bruins spread the field and attempted to take all the remaining time off the clock.
The Raiders even pulled Parker out of the net for an extra field player, but nearly four minute elapsed before a foul gave Cherry Creek a free shot attempt with no goalie. Gracie Kindy converted to make it a two-goal game, but Sitzmann scored again just 22 seconds later to cut to one again.
The Bruins spread the field again, but this time Regis Jesuit forced a turnover, only to turn the ball over itself on an errant pass as it had numbers on a fast break attempt. Morton burned significant seconds off the clock holding the ball against pressure and time finally ran out on the contest.
“We came up with one or two plays at the end that got us back into the game a little bit, but it can be exhausting trying to make that last opportunity to survive,” Foote said.
Regis Jesuit concludes the regular season with a road game at Denver East at 5 p.m. Friday, followed by game at undefeated and top-ranked Colorado Academy at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
The 5A state playoff bracket will then be released by the Colorado High School Activities Association on Sunday.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(6) CHERRY CREEK 9, (4) REGIS JESUIT 8
Score by halves:
Regis Jesuit 4 4 — 8
Cherry Creek 2 7 — 9
SCORING
First half: Cherry Creek — Izzy Assini (Ava Whitt), 23:24; Regis Jesuit — Charlotte Ford, 22:58; Cherry Creek — Assini, 18:23; Regis Jesuit — Ava Rogala, 12:21; Regis Jesuit — Maddy Jokerst, 9:42; Regis Jesuit — Ava Rogala, 4:52
Second half: Cherry Creek — Greer Simonton, 24:01; Cherry Creek — Brittan Gulick, 22:34; Cherry Creek — Assini (Gulick), 21:57; Cherry Creek — Sawyer Billings, 20:53; Regis Jesuit — Emily Bradac, 17:36; Cherry Creek — Whitt (Billings), 14:39; Cherry Creek — Whitt (Grace Manning), 10:21; Regis Jesuit — Delaney Sitzmann, 8:06; Regis Jesuit — Jokerst, 7:16; Cherry Creek — Gracie Kindy, 1:31; Regis Jesuit — Sitzmann, 1:09